Teijin announced that it has identified Tenax Dry Reinforcement (DR), the carbon fiber material used in Airbus A320neo wing spoilers, through the resin transfer molding (RTM) process developed by Spirit AeroSystems. The highly automated RTM solution combines Tenax® Dry Reinforced Non-Curved Fabric (DRNF) and Tenax® Braided Fiber (DRBF) to form the skin and stiffener, while maintaining the existing product interface, which can directly replace all final Spoiler assembly.
Tenax DRNF and Tenax DRBF have been developed for resin injection and resin transfer molding processes. Compared with traditional autoclave molding, they can provide higher productivity and component integration. Tenax DRNF is made of bundles of carbon fiber filaments, which are distributed in multiple layers in different directions in one direction, depending on the structural requirements of the final component. The fabric has good fiber orientation, has better mechanical properties than conventional woven fabrics, and achieves performance comparable to aerospace-grade thermosetting unidirectional prepregs. Tenax DRBF is used in the structure of spoiler components as a cavity filler. These materials have been certified by Airbus specifically for this application.
The combination of Tenax DRNF and Tenax DRBF meets Spirit AeroSystems aircraft component production standards, such as effective processing capacity, productivity and cost efficiency. The A320neo spoiler components will be manufactured in a new mass production facility at Spirit AeroSystems in Prestwick, Scotland.
As one of the strategic priorities of its mid-term management plan for 2020-2022. Teijin is vigorously accelerating the development of aircraft mid-to-downstream applications, such as cost-effective carbon fiber with higher strength and higher tensile modulus, including Tenax® dry carbon fiber materials, carbon fiber unidirectional thermoplastic materials (Tenax TPUD), etc. Intermediate material, carbon fiber thermoplastic reinforced laminate (Tenax TPCL) and thermosetting prepreg. Looking to the future, Teijin plans to further strengthen its carbon fiber and intermediate materials business and become a leading solution provider for aircraft applications. The goal is to achieve annual sales of more than US$900 million in this field by 2030.